The Dart: Fresh from the farm

Published 9:06 pm, Sunday, March 17, 2013

Thomas Way, of Stamford, hits the ball at the driving range at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Thomas Way, of Stamford, hits the ball at the driving range at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Photo: Jason Rearick

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Young Kim tees off at the 11th hole at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Young Kim tees off at the 11th hole at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Photo: Jason Rearick

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Young Kim, left, and Jong Lee walk down the fareway after teeing off at the 11th hole at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Young Kim, left, and Jong Lee walk down the fareway after teeing off at the 11th hole at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Photo: Jason Rearick

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Jong Lee puts from the rough onto the 10th green at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Jong Lee puts from the rough onto the 10th green at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

Photo: Jason Rearick

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Moon Chun, left, checks everyone's score while Jong Lee, center, looks over his shoulder as Young Kim walks back to his golf bag after teeing off at the 11th hole at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013. The friends estimate they play approximately 100 rounds of golf a year. less

Moon Chun, left, checks everyone's score while Jong Lee, center, looks over his shoulder as Young Kim walks back to his golf bag after teeing off at the 11th hole at Sterling Farms Golf Club in Stamford on ... more

Photo: Jason Rearick

The Dart: Fresh from the farm

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STAMFORD -- Each Monday morning, Justin Bassett packs his large white delivery truck with farm fresh food, hits the highway, and makes the 5 ½-hour trek from Vermont to Connecticut.

Bassett goes to a warehouse in Norwalk, where he distributes the goods to a group of drivers, so they can deliver them right to the doorsteps of 150 residents in Fairfield County.

"We take local stuff and turn it into chef-prepared meals to take the burden off, so when you get home, you only have to throw it in the oven," Bassett said.

Earlier in March, Bassett's truck -- emblazoned with the company's name "Graze" on the side -- broke down in Norwalk. So he brought it to a gas station at Pacific and Belden streets in Stamford's South End.

Bassett, dressed in a plaid shirt, winter vest and funky hat, was loading a tiny Nissan he rented with several bins of food to make some of the deliveries himself.

Opening a couple of the bins, Bassett said that they have meat, eggs, vegetables and other items, as well as prepared meals, such as chicken tenders, chicken paella, turkey chili and Caesar salad.

Each week, Bassett said he makes the long trip with his miniature schnauzer Hobo. The tiny dog sits in the front seat, seemingly watching everything his owner does.

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The Dart is a weekly feature in which reporters throw a dart at a map of Stamford and then go out in search of a story. This week the dart landed near Pacific and Belden streets in the South End.

While the company is based in Vermont, Bassett said the owner, Julianna Doherty, has a connection to a woman in Westport who prompted them to deliver here.

"September was two years in business, so we're still really young," he said.

The company's website proclaims that Doherty had a passion for food since she was a child and would spend afternoons making fresh pasta and ravioli with her grandparents.

Doherty was raised outside Boston, but later settled in Bristol, Vt. -- almost 15 miles southwest of Burlington, Vt. -- with her husband and children.

One day, after some friends from Connecticut visited and returned home with coolers of meat, cheese and dairy products, Doherty's wheels started turning. She figured they could deliver those farm fresh products that are staples in Vermont to people in Connecticut and Boston.

Graze was born with the mission to deliver farm fresh food directly to consumers. After a brief time, the website says, "it became apparent that customers not only wanted fresh produce, meats and dairy, but they wanted it to be easy to use; chopped, prepared and delivered with sauce and recipes to make farm fresh cooking easy and convenient for real life."

Bassett said they have nearly a dozen employees, including those who cook and prepare the meals. They deliver each Monday to Connecticut, as well as to Westchester County, N.Y., and west of Boston.

"The whole idea is when you wake up Monday morning, you have your food for the week sitting on your doorstep," Bassett said.

Bassett said he used to make all of the deliveries, but now that they've grown so much, it's impossible. When he's not delivering, Bassett makes repairs, picks the meats, does bin retrieval and does a host of other jobs.

"I'm sort of a do-all," he said.

Along with the name "Graze" on his truck, it says, "the best of Vermont delivered to you."

Bassett said the company tries to work with local farmers as much as possible. Some farms listed on the company's website are Rockville Market Farm, Millborne Farm, Otter Creek Farm, Butterworks Farm, Misty Knoll Farm, Blue Ledge Farm and Twig Farm.

They work with the Vermont Coffee Co. and Vermont Peanut Butter to get fresh products from both, as well as Vermont Cookie Love, a company run by a couple who left their life in New York City to open a cookie shop in Vermont.

"There's times when we can't get enough and times when we can get too much," Bassett said of the local products.

The website says, "small family farms and local artisanal producers are the inspiration for Graze's mission to bring fresh, healthy, sustainably produced foods directly from the farm to your front door."

It says they believe in knowing where their food comes from, how it was made, when it was made and who made it.

After loading his vehicle with the bins, Bassett was off to make his deliveries with Hobo by his side. It was a good thing he had company, because he said by the time he finishes and gets the truck fixed, it might be another six hours.